Arab National Council

The Arab National Council was a short-lived attempt by T.E. Lawrence and many Arab tribal leaders to set up an independent state ruling the city of Damascus in Syria. It was torn apart by the typical tribal divisions and the failure of public utilities, and the United Kingdom took over.

History
T.E. Lawrence took over the city of Damascus in late 1918 as World War I neared its end, having hired an army of 2,000 Arab mercenaries to assist in the campaign to liberate Syria from the Ottoman Empire. Lawrence and the Arab tribal leaders set up the "Arab National Council" to rule the city of Damascus instead of the United Kingdom, whose Arab Bureau intended to replace Ottoman rule with British rule. The Arab National Council consisted of all of the tribes' leaders, but the bickering over centuries-old tribal divisions threatened to tear the council apart. Howeitat tribe leader Auda ibu Tayi blamed Sherif Ali of the Harith tribe for the failure of telephone communications, while one tribal leader claimed that the fire in the Junsibi district was not important. The failure of the Turkish Military Hospital to take care of 2,000 Turkish wounded was another problem, and many left the city as it devolved into anarchy. Soon after, General Edmund Allenby took over control of the city, and it would be under British occupation until the French Mandate of Syria was set up.